


December 13th: Playing It Up

by NimueOfTheNorth



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), NCIS
Genre: A Christmas Carol, Aaron as Scrooge, M/M, Phone Sex, Recovered_ProfilersForChristmas2017, There's a case going one in the background, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 03:52:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12999261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/pseuds/NimueOfTheNorth
Summary: Going undercover in an amateur theatre group was not Aaron's idea of a nice time leading up to Christmas. At least his partner is offering very promising compensations.





	December 13th: Playing It Up

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [FA_ProfilersForChristmas2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/FA_ProfilersForChristmas2017) collection. 



> I might have moved a bit further away from the prompt with this. Hope the prompter still enjoys it.

Aaron had retreated from the conference room the team was using to an empty office. Professionally, he knew that this was a good plan, probably their best option to catch the UnSub. 

Personally, it was his worst nightmare. 

When the door opened and closed quietly behind him, he knew Tony had followed him.

“Is this really that horrible of a prospect for you?”

Aaron snorted without any humour. “You have no idea. I was literally the worst 4th pirate ‘The Pirates Of Penzance’ have ever seen. I hated the idea of acting before, and the experience only made it worse. That I actually made it through is a good indicator how stupidly gone I was on Haley.”

“But you know this is our best option to draw this UnSub out. The Christmas play is the only connecting factor between our victims.”

“I know,” Aaron said with a long sigh, allowing the little comfort of Tony wrapping his arms around him from behind. “I’m trying to psych myself up to do this.”

“You’ll do fine. And at least you’re not alone. Garcia will be there with you and can help you out. It’s a lucky coincidence that the two of you arrived later from the conference and nobody has seen you yet. We would be pretty much out of ideas otherwise.”

“Lucky me. I haven’t even asked what play it is and whom I am supposed to be.”

“That’s just the thing; I think you’ll have a pretty easy time with this. It’s ‘A Christmas Carol’, and you’ll be playing Scrooge.” Tony’s arms tightened around Aaron anticipating his explosion.

“What?! That’s the main character! You can’t put me on stage as a lead; I can’t pull that off. Nobody will believe it for a minute!”

“Aaron, think about it. It’s Scrooge.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Since when am I a grinch?” Aaron managed to turn around in Tony’s arms to glare at his lover.

“That’s not what I meant. But Scrooge is close to your hardass unit chief persona. You don’t have to go outside your comfort zone for that. You’ve made UnSubs believe all kinds of things, you can manage this.”

“I wish you could do this instead. You’re the natural.” Aaron deflated and resigned himself to his fate. He’d do much more difficult and outright dangerous things to try and catch a killer. This was just incredibly uncomfortable for him.

“But at least you have me to coach you and Spencer to help you learn your lines. You’ll be fine. And I might be able to sweeten the deal.” Tony’s smile turned lascivious, and Aaron knew he had irrevocably lost. He could have never imagined the temptation that one Tony DiNozzo could be, and he loved every second of it.

“What did you have in mind?”

“For every day you have to go onto that stage, I’ll fulfil one of your fantasies. And we can start with hotel sex during an investigation.”

Aaron hummed at the thought. It was funny how people always assumed Tony would be the one pushing for sex at any opportunity, and expected Hotch to be Mr Straight-Laced who’d deny him for reasons of propriety. The reality looked quite a bit different. Not that Tony needed much persuasion, but Aaron was definitely the more creative and adventurous one, once he’d learned that Tony was wholeheartedly on board with it.

Sex during a case, however, was something Tony hadn’t been willing to indulge in. For the most part, Aaron even agreed, not feeling like they could properly relax and enjoy it. But the naughtiness of it intrigued him.

“And if you have to perform in front of an audience,” Tony wanted to laugh at the look of renewed terror in his lover’s eyes, “we can do that weekend workshop about Japanese rope bondage you’ve been eyeing for months.” Aaron groaned and let his head drop onto Tony’s shoulder, breathing in his smell.

Tony enjoyed the effect just the mental image had on his partner. Aaron didn’t need to know that their registration for said workshop was already nicely wrapped and hidden with all the other gifts in the hall closet.

 

* * *

 

 

Hotel room sex, sadly, had to be postponed. They couldn’t be sure whether or not the UnSub was following their victims home and so set Aaron up in a furnished apartment in the area. As nobody wanted Garcia on her own somewhere, they established her as a freelance artist and designer, moving around the country as jobs or her fancy took her to keep her inspiration going. Adding some inherited money to the story, they could easily explain her staying in a hotel for an extended time, keeping her safely next door to Morgan. A second new member of the amateur theatre group also living out of a hotel, especially the same one, would look suspicious and might spook their UnSub.

They even had to limit contact with the team to the necessary minimum. Beyond the others showing up at the community centre as part of their investigations, they only had phone calls and video chats.

Reid proved invaluable for Hotch to learn his lines. Aaron had done his share of learning things by heart for his law degree and bar exam, but those techniques only transferred to drama so far. He’d sound utterly wooden and awkward if he relied on that experience alone.

But Spencer’s passion for literature and the understanding that came with it added life to the lines and Aaron found he actually felt like he knew what he was doing on stage. That didn’t mean he enjoyed it any more.

Garcia was the polar opposite.

It so happened that two of the four victims so far had been playing ghosts of Christmas, and the third ghost had thrown in the towel out of fear. Garcia had breathed in, proclaiming she had played all three ghosts before and after just a short performance had the director convinced that this would work. While unorthodox, Aaron couldn’t deny that she was brilliant and he envied her that ease.

The only one involved in the production who knew about the two undercovers was the sheriff’s wife, who organised the whole event every year.

They were already four days into this arrangement, and Aaron was growing tired of it. He had no idea how Tony had managed long-term undercover assignments in the past, and his admiration of his lover as an agent only went up.

He was sitting in his anonymous apartment, looking through the files the team had mailed him again. He was trying to find a connection between the evidence, the profile, and his observations of the people involved in the play, but so far he was coming up empty. It bothered him to be so disconnected from the actual investigation and his team.

When his phone rang with Tony’s ringtone, he picked it up with a smile. “Hey there, any new developments?”

“No, nothing. It looks more and more like we’re stuck until he makes his next move. Hopefully, we’ll be in place to prevent the worst at that point. I hate this kind of waiting game.”

“Me too. And I hate being separated from you. As if a week at a conference on data management wasn’t long enough, now I’m stuck in this stupid apartment all by myself. I was looking forward to sharing a bed with you again. I never thought I’d get this used to not sleeping alone so quickly.”

“Me neither. I miss you just as much. Maybe Jack can have that sleepover with Henry right after Christmas. We could not leave the bed for at least twenty-four hours. I also have to catch up on all the fantasies I owe you because of this.”

“Absolutely. Don’t think I’ll let you skip a single one of them.”

“Can I say how much I love how eager you are for the sex?” Tony’s tone turned both wistful and teasing. “You looked delicious in those jeans today when I came by. I hid in the shadows at the back to watch you for a while.”

“Did you now? I figured you had Jessica pack these jeans for a reason, so I wore them for you.”

“Hmmm, Aaron. I hate that you’re not here with me. But maybe we can have a little fun anyway.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Does the bedroom really have that large mirror in the corner like on the photos?”

“Yes.”

“Then take off everything but those jeans and get in front of the mirror.”

Aaron quickly checked that everything was locked up and turned off the lights as he walked into the bedroom. He’d already been barefoot, so he only needed to unbutton his shirt and throw that onto the dresser. “Okay, I’m here. What’s next?”

“Stand in front of the mirror and imagine I’m there, pressed into your back, holding you.”

Aaron hummed and closed his eyes at the thought. “I’d like that. I love your strong arms around me, that we match eachother in that.”

“Me too. I’d loop my arms around you, caress your chest and play with your nipples, all the while enjoying the full view of you in the mirror.”

Aaron used his own free hand to mimic what Tony was describing and moaned.

“Do you like that, Aaron? Are you getting hard from that?”

“Yes, God, yes.”

“I’d slowly unbutton your jeans, one at a time, teasing you through the fabric.”

Aaron groaned as he squeezed his already straining cock in between undoing one button at a time. His cock sprang free, and he looked at himself in the mirror, imagining Tony there with him.

“I want you to stay in those jeans. Push them down just below your arse and take your underwear along.”

“I’m not wearing any,” Aaron said as he arranged the tight-fitting jeans as Tony wanted.

“What?”

“Come on Tony, you’ve seen them. I’m never wearing underwear under these jeans.”

On the other end of the line, Tony groaned. “I will never watch ‘A Christmas Carol’ the same again. Every time I hear Scrooge say “Bah! Humbug!”, I’ll have to think of you in those sinful jeans with no underwear.”

Aaron chuckled. “Too bad. But I’m still standing here with my cock out. What are you planning to do about that?”

“Hmmm, what a pretty picture. I’m tempted to switch this to video chat but focusing on your voice is also sexy as hell. Okay, I’d press against your back and butt as close as I could get and holding you still, I’d start stroking your cock ever so slowly, daring you to demand more.”

Aaron switched the phone to the other hand and started to stroke himself.

“Are you touching yourself for me, Aaron?”

“Yes.”

“Which hand are you using?”

“My right. Makes it feel a little bit more like it’s actually you.”

Tony chuckled at that. “It’s curious how of all the things, you’re ambidextrous at shooting and wanking. Keep it nice and slow, I wanna enjoy myself. Imagine my hard cock pressing against your butt, the fabric of my pants rough against your naked skin.”

Aaron groaned and his eyes fell shut. “Take them off, please. I want to feel you properly.”

“As you wish. I’m letting my own pants drop to the floor, nothing else. I’m too eager to keep touching you. I’m pressing my cock along the crack of your arse, rubbing up and down. Will you use those perfect firm muscles of yours to squeeze me?”

“Oh, yes! Anything to make this good for you.” Aaron had to force himself not to speed up his strokes. He knew it wouldn’t take much after having been mostly separated from Tony for a week and a half and he didn’t want this to end just yet.

“Hmmm, I think I want my cock between your legs. Every stroke brushing your perineum. The head nudging your balls with every push. How does that sound?”

“Tony, please!” Aaron didn’t care that he was begging. Between the mental images and the constant, teasingly slow stroking of his cock he just needed something more.

“At this point, I’m having you with your head dropped back onto my shoulder. Your body trembling and bowing into my movements, seeking more stimulations. Right?”

“Yes! God, Tony, please! I can’t take this any longer. Please, make me come!”

“Speed up your strokes, Aaron. Imagine my hand tightening around your cock, adding that little twist at the end that you love so much. I’d be kissing and nibbling up and down your neck if I was there, giving you a hickey just below the line of your collar.”

Aaron came with a groan all over his own hand, fumbling not to drop the phone as his knees buckled and he felt limp all over.

Only a few seconds later he heard Tony reach his climax as well.

They were both just breathing heavily for a minute.

“Did you enjoy yourself, love?” Tony asked, the endearment something that showed up more often after sex.

“Yeah. No replacement for the real deal though.”

“I’m glad I won’t be relegated to talking you to orgasm for the foreseeable future,” Tony snarked in good humour.

The afterglow was already receding and Aaron looked himself over. “Great. Now I have to clean the mirror.”

He got hearty laughter in response. “You know you can do that tomorrow, right? Just clean yourself up and go to bed.”

“It’ll be easier if I do it now.”

“Neat freak,” Tony teased before they said their goodnights.

 

* * *

 

 

Aaron had purposefully ignored how close they were already to the premiere of the play.

He kept clinging to the hope that they would have a breakthrough or their UnSub would make a mistake before that most horrible of horrible events happened. And for a moment it looked like he might get lucky just the night before.

Another person involved with the play, one of the women helping with makeup and costumes, had been attacked when she was walking towards the bus stop. She had been dragged into a side alley, and some of the things she remembered her attacker saying fit in well with their profile. A store owner bringing out the trash has disturbed the UnSub and saved her life, leaving her just bruised and shaken.

The team still wasn’t any closer to identifying their killer, though. They expected that between his failed attempt of the night before the opening of the play that night, the pressure for him to try again would inevitably lead to another attack. All they could do was to cover everyone involved with the play as unobtrusively as possible, keeping the people save while not alerting the UnSub.

Aaron was still stuck on the thought that in less than an hour, he would have to go out on the stage, in front of a fully packed hall, and perform as Ebenezer Scrooge.

He had found himself a small unused storage room, barely more than a cupboard really, to deal with his panic and still preserve his dignity. The door opened behind him and he was about to send whomever it was off not too kindly when he recognised Tony.

“Hey there. You doing okay?”

“No. Tony, this is crazy. I don’t belong out there.”

“Yes, you do. You did an amazing job over the last week and a half and you’ve really nailed the part. I know, it’s not something you enjoy. Doesn’t mean you can’t be good at it. It’s not the broadway, Aaron, it’s just an amateur play. And from all the bits and pieces I’ve seen and what Garcia has told us, you are doing great. Just don’t make this bigger in your mind than it actually is. And if that helps you, think about it this way: the only one you’re performing for, the only one you have to convince is the UnSub. Go through with this to force him to act, to make a mistake. Something about this play bothers him enough to make him kill. We all agree that this will provoke him into another attempt, and this time, we’ll be there to catch him. And you going out there and giving it your best is vital for that.”

Tony had pulled Aaron into his arms and was looking him deep in the eyes. “Come on. When has SSA Aaron Hotchner ever shied away from something?”

Aaron snorted. Maybe that was part of the problem. He had felt so disconnected from his team and the case, had to pretend to be somebody else so much, that he’d lost some of his legendary determination. He took a deep breath, straightened his spine, and let the air out slowly. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”

“There’s my man.” Tony gave him one of his blinding smiles, full of pride. “One last thing.” He took Aaron’s face with both hands and preceded to kiss the living daylight out of him. “Break a leg.”

With that, he snuck out of the small room again, leaving behind an Aaron who had a completely different reason to compose himself.

When he entered the room beside the stage where everyone else was getting ready for their performance, he was greeted with a catcall.

“Well, hello! Looks like our dear Aaron got himself a groupie before the show even properly started. Having fun?”

Aaron blushed and self-consciously touched his still kiss-swollen lips. “Yes, actually. Erm, anything we have to go over again?”

“Nope, should all be going well. And if not, so what?”

The group tried to distract each other from their nervousness with banter and anecdotes. Aaron joined in but also did his best to keep an eye out for any unusual behaviour, but nothing stood out to him.

There was nothing to it, he had to get out on stage.

It wasn’t even going too badly. The lights made the audience mostly invisible and he focused on his fellow actors as much as he could. They got encouraging applause at the end of each scene and Garcia’s hilarious take on the Ghosts of Christmas garnered much laughter at all the right places.

They were just starting stave four with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come when there was a commotion off to the side. Aaron was still trying to make out what was going on without breaking character when a man ran onto the stage with an old-fashioned dagger in his hand. He vaguely recognised his face from the files as one of the accountants for the centre, though the pleasant but bland smile from the picture had been replaced by a grimace of madness.

With both the actors and the audience screaming, and Tony yelling “Stop, FBI!” somewhere outside of the lit area, it was becoming quite the commotion. Having the man run almost directly at him, Aaron made good use of the cane that had been forced on him as a prop. He swung it with precision and force, knocking the dagger out of the man’s hand, then tripped him with his leg and had him pinned to the stage floor with one smooth move.

Tony appeared at his shoulder, handing him cuffs. “Running never works, doesn’t stop them from trying. You’re under arrest.”

Reid, Morgan and Prentiss appeared and while Derek secured the dagger and looked after Garcia, Emily hauled their killer away.

Somebody switched the lights to a more even setting for the whole room and Aaron could see JJ supporting the Sheriff’s wife, who had a bleeding wound on one arm and Rossi walking in with the Sheriff, who hurried over to his wife.

Everyone accounted for, he turned to the audience. “In the name of the FBI I would like to apologise for disrupting your evening but this year’s play unwittingly became the scene of a murder investigation. If you could all remain in the building for a little longer, our agents and the deputies from the Sheriff’s department will take down your information and witness statements for our records as soon as possible. Thank you for your support.”

He wasn’t quite used to receiving applause for this type of announcement but figured it was a combination of the venue, the shock and the relief of the people.

He turned around to find a grinning Tony.

“And you,” he pointed his finger at him, “owe me big time.”

“I’m looking forward to delivering on that. Every single bit.” There was no misunderstanding the juicy smile that accompanied that statement.

Morgan groaned and let his head fall back. “I can’t believe you actually got Hotch to agree to this plan by promising _that_!”

Spencer just held out a hand to his friend, his own smirk firmly in place. “Told you so. Pay up!”

Aaron wanted to be mortified but found himself laughing with the rest of the team.

At least now that it was all over, he got to go home to a decidedly un-Scrooge-y Christmas with his son and the man he loved.

And some _very_ promising presents.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> A case requires the two of them to go on stage in a Christmas play to figure out who the unsub is that is killing off people in the theater.
> 
> They have to go through opening night at least before catching their person.


End file.
